New artists debut at Ogden Arts Festival this weekend
A group looks at an artist's work during the 2019 Ogden Arts Festival.
Visitors walk the Union Station grounds during the 2019 Ogden Arts Festival.
Ogden's painted horses are ready to greet attendees into the Ogden Arts Festival.
People engage in a community art project during the 2019 Ogden Arts Festival.
A crowd gathers to listen to live music during the 2019 Ogden Arts Festival.
Participants show off their skills in the skateboard competition during the 2019 Ogden Arts Festival.
Over 100 art vendors, including 50 never-before-seen at the Ogden Arts Festival, will be taking over Ogden Union Station this weekend.
Located in the heart of downtown and filling the entirety of the historic Union Station, the event organizers are bringing local and regional artists, live performances, kids’ activities and food vendors to Ogden on Saturday and Sunday.
“The two-day event is a great way to kick-off the summer and support all things artsy and creative in Northern Utah” said Danielle Bendinelli, director of the Ogden Arts Festival. “We’re excited for this year’s growth and were happily overwhelmed with the amount of interest from artists and organizations wanting to participate.”
The number of vendors has expanded with an additional 20 artists attending from all over the region, with art at a variety of price ranges, according to Bendinelli. And this year, one of the performance stages is exclusively dedicated to dance and classic string ensembles.
“At OAF2021, you’ll see more community partnerships, an additional 20 artist booths, interactive opportunities, live graffiti painting, a skateboard competition and some amazing musicians and performers,” she said.
Bendinelli, who volunteered with the arts festival for over eight years and served as artist coordinator since 2016 before becoming festival director, recently took over Indie Ogden’s Instagram account with live videos to reveal updated event details about food trucks, live entertainment and kids’ activities.
In the day-long series of posts, viewers watched as Bendinelli took trips to the Dollar Tree for table cloths, Ogden’s Own Distillery for hand sanitizer and Home Depot to pick up 1,500 donated kids’ art kits, an activity which Marshall White Center staff has volunteered to run.
Several other community partners joined in to support the festival this year, including Onstage Ogden, Nurture the Creative Mind, Weber County Library, 801 Rocks, Project Success, Eccles Dinosaur Park and Treehouse Museum.
The hands-on, interactive “Kids ARTivities” will be available to kids at various zones during all hours of the festival.
Food options for every palate will be provided by Wimpy and Fritz tacos, Devil’s Pit BBQ, Basmati Indian tacos, Sushi Burrito and Yummy Sweets & Soda Shoppe, as well as adult beverages. Maple Garden will also be open, with extended hours for the festival, for in-house dining both Saturday and Sunday.
Two performance stages have live entertainment at all hours during both festival days; the lineup includes local Utah musicians Nick Passey, Gabriel Gordon and a special Saturday night show with Rumba Libre at the Fountain Stage. Ogden Camerata, Trash Panda Drum Group, Onstage Ogden Youth, Dionysios Greek Dancers and many others offer unique dance, experimental and classical music performances.
Since 2004, Ogden Arts Festival has been produced as a quality event to cultivate communitywide engagement for appreciation of arts and culture to residents and visitors of the Northern Utah area. It is managed by Nurture the Creative Mind, a 501©(3) nonprofit that empowers and establishes self-value in youth through creativity while developing marketable skills.
Ogden Arts Festival 2021 will be open from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $5, including both days, and ages 18 and younger are free. Advanced ticket purchases are encouraged.
See full event details and ticket info at ogdenartsfestival.com.